Kansas unemployment rate climbs to 3.1% — fourth monthly increase in 2024
Construction of the new state office building adjacent to the Kansas Capitol continued despite an increase in the Kansas unemployment rate in June to 3.1%, a 0.5 percentage point rise in the past year. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — The 0.5 percentage point climb in the Kansas unemployment rate during the past year fell in the middle range of increases reported across the board in a five-state region that included Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado, state labor agencies said.
During the past 12 months, Oklahoma experienced the smallest expansion of joblessness and Colorado the largest growth in unemployment among the five states. Oklahoma’s rate in June stood at 3.4% in June for a 0.3 percentage point increase over the year. The other states: Nebraska, 2.6% in June, up 0.4% for the year; Kansas, 3.1%, up 0.5 points; Missouri, 3.7%, up 0.7 points; and Colorado, 3.8%, up 1 point.
Amber Shultz, secretary of the Kansas Department of Labor, said the number of seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs grew by 17,900 across the state in the past year. That total was tied to the addition of 15,300 private-sector jobs and 2,600 government jobs in Kansas.
Shultz said purchasing power of Kansans expanded in the past year as the average hourly pay for private-sector workers increased 5.2% over the year to $30.61.
“With inflation slowing down, the actual purchasing power of wages in Kansas increased by 2.6% over the year, while the average number of hours worked stayed the same,” the labor secretary said.
The seasonally adjusted Kansas unemployment rate stood at 3.1% in June. That was higher than rates of 2.9% in May and 2.6% in June 2023, based on reports of the state Department of Labor and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
From May to June, Kansas officials said nonfarm employment increased by 7,600 with 5,400 of those jobs in the government sector and 2,200 in the private sector.
The Kansas jobless statistic has gradually risen in the first half of 2024, moving from 2.6% in January to 2.7% during February and March, and from 2.8% in April to 2.9% in May and 3.1% in June.
Here are monthly May-to-June unemployment rates for the surrounding states: Missouri, 3.7%, up from 3.5%; Oklahoma, 3.4%, down from 3.5%; and Colorado, 3.8%, unchanged; and Nebraska, 2.6%, up from 2.5%.
“June was another record-breaking month for nonfarm employment,” said John Albin, Nebraska’s labor commissioner. “Omaha added the most jobs compared to a year ago, and the private education and health services industry saw the largest over-the-year growth.”
The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in June was 4.1%, up 0.1 percentage points from May and up 0.5 percentage points from June 2023.
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